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Angelica Langford

Prof. Rosen

HLTH 1020: Scientific Foundations of Human Nutrition

10 April 2019

Supersize Me

Morgan Spurlock conducted an experiment regarding the obesity epidemic in America.

His experiment utilized repetitive patterns of unhealthy eating habits that are commonly seen in

the United States today. Spurlock’s goal was to mimic the eating habits of a typical American

and take these habits to their logical end. His desire was to see what would happen to his body

and mind if he consumed these products daily, and his results were shocking.

During this study, Spurlock chose to eat only McDonald’s food for a span of thirty days from

February to March, 2003. His rules were to eat only McDonald’s (no other fast food) three meals

a day, every day, and supersize his meal only when asked. He had to try every item from

McDonald’s by the end of the thirty-day period. His daily caloric intake was over five-thousand

kcals per day. A man his size would only need around twenty-five hundred in order to maintain

his physique (Smith), so he was essentially doubling his energy intake. During the documentary,

there are multiple perspectives people had on different health issues. Younger teens made health

claims that eating at “more nutritious” restaurants were unreasonably expensive for them and

that some fast food was cheaper. A man from Baskin Robbins described his life tasting ice cream

and developing poor habits because of it. A mentality that is frequently seen today and is

mentioned in this documentary is familial influence. The same man from Baskin Robbins

describes his life change as a reaction to his uncle’s heart attack. So, this documentary is not all

about McDonald’s, but rather about the life changes one makes to choose health, overall well-
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being and happiness over the pleasures of overeating. By the end of this documentary, and the

end of the Mcdonald’s-only diet, Spurlock gains twenty-four and a half pounds, doubled his risk

for heart disease, had a fatty liver, sexual dysfunction, and mood swings (Spurlock). The film

ends on a happier note, however, showing that there is possible change in one’s life no matter

how far they’ve gone, showing that schools are now recognizing the obesity crisis and have

removed sugary drinks from schools, and how even McDonald’s caught on and introduced their

premium salads to help people have healthier options to choose from. Spurlock eventually lost

the weight, but it took him over fourteen months of following a careful vegan diet.

I chose Supersize Me because McDonald’s is a restaurant close to my heart. I’ve always

loved going there as a kid and have gone on and off as an adult. I understand it is an unhealthy

place to eat, but it’s always a treat for me, so I go sparingly. This documentary demonstrates an

issue I personally struggle with as well, which is eating too much over a long period of time and

gaining weight quickly. I can understand Spurlock’s struggle in gaining twenty-four pounds in a

month and taking fourteen months to lose them. I haven’t experienced anything that drastic, but I

seem to put on weight quickly and lose it very slowly.

Morgan Spurlock is an American independent filmmaker, and created and participated in

the documentary, Supersize Me. Morgan Spurlock has no professional health education, but eats

mostly vegan (Spurlock).

This documentary was produced in 2003, sixteen years ago. I think the themes are still

relevant in that if one eats double their caloric intake per day, weight gain will happen. Overall I

think the documentary was far-fetched. Of course someone is going to gain weight if they stop

exercising and eat double what they normally would. What would happen if he ate five-thousand

calories of chicken, vegetables and salad a day with no exercise? He may not have had some of
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the other terrible symptoms, but of course he would have gained weight. So, for a movie focused

on addressing the causes of obesity in America, I don’t think he quite hit the nail on the head. I

think the obesity crisis happened then, and is even worse now, because simply eat too much and

exercise too little. It’s the simple science of energy input and output that has been taught in

schools for years. If you eat more than you exercise, you gain weight. If you exercise more than

you eat, you lose weight. So, if you want to lose weight, something must give. Either exercise

more or eat less. We can talk and argue all day about what foods to eat and whether we should

eat this or that, but weight loss is mostly about calories. There are exceptions, but when roughly

forty percent of Americans are obese, there cannot be that many exceptions.

Three topics related to this film and in the textbook:

1. Caloric intake

2. Exercise

3. Eating disorders

Calories intake varies from person to person, but the general rule to maintain a healthy body

weight is to create a lifestyle that allows you to intake as much energy as you put out (Smith).

This documentary shows Spurlock consuming over five-thousand kcals a day without exercising.

The reason he gained so much weight was because he ate a considerable amount more than he

expended energy. There have been other diets people have done that require only eating

McDonald’s, but only eating what they need, and they actually lost weight over a month period

(Carlton).
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Spurlock considered the average American exercise of five-thousand steps a day and tried

to meet this daily goal. He failed mostly, however because he walked much more in Houston

than he did in New York City (Spurlock) and his average at the end of the month was not five

thousand per day. The textbook talks about different methods of exercising, and that walking is a

great way for American’s to control their weight. However, the textbook specifies that

American’s should exercise much more than they actually do. Walking five-thousand steps a day

while eating double what you need isn’t going to do much if weight control and overall health is

the goal.

Another issue shown in this film is eating disorder. Spurlock wasn’t eating an “average”

American diet. He was eating a diet reasonably comparable to that of a person with binge eating

disorder. This disorder is characterized by extended periods of time consuming thousands of

calories in one sitting (Smith), and is a disorder a lot of Americans struggle with today. Even if

the average American eats out every day, they don’t eat McDonald’s three times a day every day,

so that seemed like a flaw in his research. Spurlock didn’t mention much about eating disorders

and I think he could have done better using his platform to speak out against a life-draining issue

a lot of Americans have.

This assignment brought me back to reality regarding nutrition in my daily life. People,

including myself, worship food and no longer eat to live, rather live to eat. I want to be a person

who thinks critically about my health and the health of others, specifically, my patients. I want to

be a person who realizes the necessity of food, and the joys of good meals, but treats my body

with respect and only gives it what it needs. I want to take part in something bigger than myself

and spread nutrition knowledge to my patients, family and friends. I learned that it takes a whole

lot longer to lose weight than it does to put it on, apparently, and that taking your time to lose
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weight is important. I want to incorporate these themes into my own life and start taking my

health more seriously, considering my family has a history of heart problems, obesity and

diabetes.
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WORKS CITED

Carlton, Bob. “Meet the science teacher who lost 60 pounds eating nothing but McDonald’s

three meals a day” 2015.

Smith. Wardlaw’s Contemporary Nutrition: A Functional Approach. 5E McGraw-Hill

Education, 2017.

Spurlock, Morgan. Supersize me. 2003.